Eighty new companies launch every hour in the UK, according to Startup Britain. Tomorrow, you could have hundreds of new competitors operating in your market, and the only way to stay competitive would be by rethinking your offerings and operations. With entrepreneurs starting new companies at a record pace, disruption is clearly the only way forward.
Attending the Watson Summit in London, the ‘Festival of Disruption’ looking at how technology is disrupting and changing traditional business models, reminded me of the importance of helping companies market and communicate what they’re already doing to keep them ahead of the curve and ensure their success in this world of continuous change we live in.
New roles for humans are already emerging as a result of automation, and only forward-thinking organisations that don’t fear disruption and, instead, embrace it very quickly, will be able to dominate the game – it’s no longer the survival of the fittest, but the survival of the fastest. And communication plays an important role in this race.
So, what can we do to prepare businesses for a world of rapid disruption? Here are some key takeouts from the event:
- Be the ‘disruptor’, not the ‘disrupted.’ Disrupting innovation can hurt if you are not the one disrupting. Staying on top of major transformational technologies such as blockchain, AI, IoT and Big Data, can help companies to communicate with the right audience and gain the confidence to create, manage and avoid disruption from happening to you
- Technology is nothing without people. The 2017 Edelman Trust Barometer revealed that 53 percent of respondents agree that the pace of change in business and industry is too fast, and they’re worried about losing their jobs due to the lack of training or skills (60 percent) and automation (54 percent). Empower your business and your people with the right tools to unleash their potential. Have faith in other people, and trust that if you give them the right tools to communicate with each other in an effective way, they’ll unlock their disruptive potential and create something magic
- Explore new ways to share your messages. Analyse your audience’s expectations by using key data to back up your initial research. Find out the right channel to send across your message, ensuring you can engage your audience in new and unexpected ways
- Build trust and protect yourself. In an ever-changing society, take a step back to analyse how you can retain control of what you do to protect yourself, your employees and your customers. According to the Edelman Trust Barometer, technological change is enhancing people’s trust in global institutions. Consider cloud computing technology and AI to protect your reputation and secure your organisation, brand and customers